A special meeting of the Tacoma School Board on Wednesday will help resolve questions about pay for teachers who participated in an eight-day strike that ended Friday.
The board will meet at noon to ratify two collective bargaining agreements – one for teachers and other members of the Tacoma Education Association and one for food services workers with Professional Services Employees. The food services workers have agreed to extend their current collective bargaining agreement with the school district for an additional year.
The board’s ratification of the collective bargaining agreement with the TEA will enable the district to pay salaried employees – including paraeducators, teachers and other salaried employees affected by the strike – their full, regular pay on Oct. 5.
“I applaud the district for looking into this matter,” TEA President Andy Coons said. “This is a positive gesture toward starting the healing process.”
District officials had been worried that paying teachers for work not performed during the strike would constitute a prohibited gift of public funds. A dispute over the pay issue had erupted Friday between the union and the school district.
On Monday, the district contacted the state Auditor’s Office for additional guidance.
District spokesman Dan Voelpel said the Auditor’s Office advised the district it could provide a full regular payment to teachers without raising the issue of a gift of public funds, as long as certain conditions are met. Those conditions include:
• A valid collective bargaining agreement must be in place by Oct. 5.
• The agreement must specify that salaried employees, including teachers, will receive 24 equal payments throughout the year for their work.
The board’s ratification of the contract Wednesday would meet those requirements. Hourly employees, however, will have to work their scheduled time before they can be paid, Voelpel said.
The board will meet in the seventh floor conference room of the Central Administration Building, 601 S. Eighth St.
Also Monday, Pierce County Superior Court Judge Bryan Chushcoff dismissed court actions between the school district and the union.
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